The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a condition measurement apparatus and method.
Modern gas turbine combustors often require Dry Low NOx (DLN) technology to achieve relatively decreased NOx emission levels. One of the key issues with operation of an exemplary DLN combustor, however, is that combustion dynamics tends to occur. Combustion dynamics originates from a coherent interaction of heat release due to flame production in the combustor and an acoustic pressure wave associated therewith and leads to decreased combustor and hot gas path component durability. Dealing with and possibly correcting for combustion dynamics requires, at least, accurate measurements of acoustic pressure amplitude in the combustor.
A common method of measuring acoustic pressure amplitude in the combustor involves the placement of a port through a “hot side” of the combustor liner and locating a sensor at a distance from the sensing location by way of a waveguide or directly mounting the sensor at the sensing port without using the waveguide. In either case, for sensor durability and accuracy, hot side applications require adequate cooling and mounting features which could otherwise be used for premixing with fuel to further decrease NOx emissions.